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Given thew symptoms you suggest I doubt the seals that have been referred to, these are on the fluid side of the system and the symptoms would be increased pedal travel or no brakes at all . It could be something as simple as a blocked or leaking servo pipe, failed check valve or faulty/ leaking servo unit. Given you suggest it gets a bit better if the engine is revved to build up pressure I'd suspect a blockage/leak or faulty servo rather than check valve.

Does the car idle OK, often a vacuum leak will induce a rough/ unsteady idle?

We are thinking servo issue. If you stamp on the brakes they work fine. There is huge brake travel before they bite and the pedal sags below the accelerator, so it's very easy to catch the accelerator whilst trying to brake! That can't be normal? Car idles just fine.

Stratstone have told my husband today that that IS perfectly normal and standard for a 458 and the brakes are fine. I swear blind they weren't like that until the car was serviced in March. He's going to arrange for us to go in and do a side-by-side comparison of 458 brakes as they have several cars in stock. Not to drive another one, just to start it up and compare brake feel. If they are the same we'll concede that it's just us and this is 'normal'.

The shame of it is that we're losing confidence in the car and Paul is thinking he might let it go

sorry to hear your woe's, when i took delivery of my used 458 i changed the brake lines to Goodridge ( the lines are the same as used on the 355) and i changed the fluid to castrol SRF this firmed up my brake pedal and restored my confidence in the brakes.if you look on ferrari chat you will see quite a few posts on the 458 brake problems, one guy went as far as to say that the 458 was a dangerous machine and he sold it.

All sorted now. As elt stated the brakes are typical for type, Stratstone were very good allowing me to try different 458's to confirm the behaviour was consistent for the model.

A brake pedal which sags below the accelerator before start-up isn't reassuring, and then sags even further once you turn the engine over does not inspire confidence. It's pretty awful in town driving, but held up well on the various Alpine passes.

In 30+ years of driving never come across a brake pedal setup like this, hence my belief it was faulty.

The experience you described in Switzerland is absolutely not how the car should behave. Make sure you test it properly.

Originally Posted by Miss Darkside

Well, we're back from Italy more or less intact. Stelvio, Grimsel, Furkha etc. were interesting without servo'd brakes

Yes, as has been suggested on this thread the issue is - has to be - with the master cylinder. By the time we reached Switzerland it was clear that Stratstone had actually done nothing worthwhile to improve the brakes. The brakes were ok if you gave the car plenty of revs and built up a vacuum but that quickly dissipated. I suspect the seals are the issue, either flipped as has been suggested here or they have atrophied due to lack of use prior to our ownership of the car.

We enjoyed the trip anyway and Stratstone are collecting the car AGAIN on Tuesday to sort the issue once and for all, we hope! If not we'll take it to a competitor and make sure everyone everywhere knows how useless they are.